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Michael Oher Struggles

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Michael Oher Did you know that Michael Oher was homeless as a child then ended up playing in the Super Bowl? Michael Oher was born to Denise Oher on May 28, 1986. Michael’s mother didn’t earn much income so most nights he would stay at a friends house or sleep on the street, and sadly beg for food at strangers’ houses. Michael described his difficulty with being homeless as, “The winter was cold, but the summer was worse because the heat was so oppressive and the mosquitoes bit all night long”(Lewis 263). This shows us how horrible Michael's childhood was and that he lived in a devastating state of poverty. Michael Oher overcame so many obstacles like poverty, hunger, and not being educated still, he triumphed by successfully playing football …show more content…

Michael’s dad was sent to jail frequently and while Michael was in high school, his father was thrown off a bridge and murdered. Michael’s mother was a drug addict and was in and out of rehab centers. During Michael’s childhood he lived in many different foster homes. Michael was such a horrible student that he even flunked weight lifting class. Michael didn’t care about going to school, in fact in the fourth grade he didn’t show up for about fifty days of a single term. Michael’s teacher described his career as, “He was sensationally absent: forty six days of a single term of his first grade year for instance” (Lewis 46). During his middle school career, Michael was tested for his IQ to see his academic potential. The testing showed that Michael had limitations to his academic potential: The testing proved that, “The boy had measured IQ of 80, which puts him in mankind's 9th precinct tile” (Lewis 45). This showed his teachers how severely learning disabled Michael was to his teachers. Since Michael had failing grades, he was often transferred to different schools. The public school system failed him since, “In his first nine years Michael Oher was instituted in eleven different institutions and that included a whole of eighteen months” (Lewis 45). In Michael’s early life he had no family support and little education and when Michael couldn’t do something for school, he would just give up. Michael had little motivation to succeed due to his

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